The Mission Is Never Over
by Dragonball X Avalon
Summary: When he dies, Oliver doesn't wake up to eternity with Felicity. He wakes up back on Lian Yu, surrounded by those who have known him best. There, he learns that he was right about what he told Diggle eight years earlier. The Mission Is Never Over. Not for Olicity fans!


**A/N: So I just finished watching the series finale of Arrow. Wow, it feels weird to say that. I hadn't graduated high school when Arrow premiered, and now I have a college degree and a full-time job. In many ways, Arrow has been just as impactful to me as Smallville, and while I disagree with several of the decisions that have taken place over the years, I have to say that it is still one of the best superhero shows I have ever seen. However, the finale was just too neat. It was all too easy, and certain things I wanted to see happen never did, while some things happened that made no sense at all. We never saw Slade again, Nyssa completely denied having any feelings for Oliver, which I consider an insult to the character and Oliver apparently had some creepy crush on Felicity while he was gone. So this is my way of addressing all of that. I hope you enjoy.**

"Oliver Queen."

Oliver opened his eyes, looking around at his surroundings. He knew them well. They were where he had died, where he had been reborn. In many ways, they were as much home as Star City had ever been. He walked over towards the speaker, smiling as he saw him standing next to the plane that had been their home for so many nights.

"Hello Slade." Oliver said, shaking his friend's hand.

"It's good to see you kid." The former ASIS operative replied with a smile. He wore a grey suit, and his eyepatch was in his usual place, covering the eye Oliver had taken so many years ago.

"You too. But how are you here? For that matter, how am I? The last thing I remember is dying." He said, and Slade nodded.

"It's a long story. But first, there are some people who want to say hello." Slade said, walking into the plane. Oliver followed him, freezing as he saw the person waiting to greet them.

"Hello Oliver."

"Dad?" Oliver asked, and Robert Queen nodded, embracing his son a moment later.

"You did it Oliver. You saved your city. You saved the universe." Robert said, and Oliver smiled.

"It was a team effort."

"And it all started with you. You have brought honor to my hood, and become the man I always knew you could be." Shado said as she walked over to him, kissing him softly.

"Hello Bobei." She said a moment later.

"What is this Shado? How am I on Lian Yu? How are you here? Why?"

"We are here because it's the place you began your journey, where you became who you were always meant to be." Talia said as she walked over to join them.

"Talia." He replied, and she smirked.

"Oliver Queen. My finest student. You have done well." She said, and he smiled.

"Is that a compliment I hear?"

"Enjoy it while it lasts. She does not give them often. Hello husband." Nyssa said, and Oliver chuckled at her greeting.

"Wife." He said, and she smiled.

"One of my father's more tolerable decisions. If I was to be married to any man, it would be you." She said, kissing him easily. While it was true that she had been disgusted with Oliver and the idea of being married to him initially repulsed her, Nyssa had come to admire, and eventually care for the man who stood before her. It was what had made her decision so easy. Well that, and the final member of their greeting party.

"I gotta ask Ollie, is this really your idea of paradise?" Sara Lance asked as she walked over to him, clad in her original black canary costume.

"I just woke up here, and I still don't know why we are here. Aside from my dad and Shado, all of you are still alive. I made sure of it."

"They are here because they choose to be." Mar Novu said as he walked into the plane.

"Mar Novu."

"Oliver Queen. You have a decision to make." He said, and Oliver glared.

"I made my decision. I sacrificed my life. Haven't I given enough? Haven't I earned peace?" Oliver asked angrily.

"You have, and if you walk out of this plane you will have a peace. Forever with Felicity Smoak. But then you will never know the truth."

"What truth?" Oliver hissed out, his words barely above a whisper.

"The future is hell Oliver. Star City in 2040 is a cesspool of crime and corruption. When you died ...people grew complacent. The team walked away, took on other jobs. By the time 2020 was over, the only two people on your team left in Starling were Laurel and Renee. Renee becomes Mayor, so he gave up the vigilante life. Laurel did the same. She runs Verdant oddly enough. But in 20 years, all that goes away. Star City is slowly being taken over by the Deathstroke gang, and their new boss. Mia is trying to do the best she can to honor your legacy, but she is losing. She needs your help Oliver."

Oliver hesitated. He wanted to call Sara a liar, wanted to scream that he had earned his peace. He had done his job, and his war was over. But he knew Sara would never lie to him, and if Mia needed help...there was only one answer he could give.

"Okay. I'll go. I'll help Mia. Do we take the Waverider or-"

"I'm afraid it is not that simple Oliver. For your legacy and sacrifice to endure for twenty years, you must remain dead. Oliver Queen cannot exist. And if you are to prevent the coming future, you must tear out the cancer infesting your city." Novu said, handing Oliver a book.

"The List." He said quietly.

"You once told John Diggle the mission would never be over. Well it never will be. Not until every name on that list is crossed off." He said, and Oliver looked at the book in his hand. It was one of his only regrets. He had saved his city, but he had never finished crossing the names off the List.

"I guess I need to get started then." He said, and Sara shook her head.

"You mean we." She said, indicating herself, Nyssa, Talia and Slade.

"Sara you all have lives and-"

"And we were all offered a choice. To live those lives or to aid you in your quest. We chose to aid you Oliver, if you will have us." Nyssa said, and Oliver looked at them for a moment. Slade and Talia, who had taught him how to survive. Sara, who understood his trials in a way no one else ever would. Nyssa, who had become a friend and confidant as he had gotten to know her. Someone he would trust with his life. Someone he could have grown to love, if things had been different.

He nodded in acceptance of her words.

"Okay then. Let's get to work."

**A/N: So I honestly didn't plan on this story winding up the way it has. I mean, I haven't addressed the Oliver/Felicity flashback garbage. I didn't make a one-shot, which is what I intended. But I kept getting struck by a few things. One, everyone walked away from Star City too easily. You claim to be Oliver's family and then you up and leave the city he spent the better part of a decade defending? Two, why have Oliver say in flashback's the mission will never be over, and why reference the list if it doesn't even matter? Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 of this story. Please read and review, and the next chapter will be up soon! **


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